Marking device

ABSTRACT

A marking device, such as a hand stamp, dater, coder or other printing device, and having a marking band of self-storing fluid material for marking articles with ink or other fluids. The band is formed as a sleeve of microporous synthetic resin and this resin band is bonded to an inner flexible and woven reinforcing material. The composite sleeve so formed is insertable over a supporting cylinder which fully supports the entire sleeve of said relatively fragile resin. A holder is provided for such a sleeve of microporous resin material, and the resin material and its supporting cylinders are shiftable in the holder between (1) an inoperative, protected position within the holder and (2) an operative position where it can contact the article to be marked.

United States Patent [72] lnventors Raphael D. Nettesheim New Berlin; Thomas J. Mohs, Madison, both of Wis. [21] Appl. No. 90,768 [22] Filed Nov. 18, 1970 [45] Patented Dec. 7, 1971 [73] Assignee The Schwaab Label Company, Inc. Milwaukee, Wis. Continuation of application Ser. No. 764,540, Oct. 2, 1968, now abandoned. This application Nov. 18, 1970, Ser. No. 90,768

[54] MARKING DEVICE 2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.Cl 101/106, 101/327 [51] lnt.Cl B413 1/26, B41 j 27/20 [50] Field of Search 101/99, 103, 106-108, 110, 1 l 1, 327, 333, 368, 371

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,598,806 6/1952 Lauer 101/103 Primary ExaminerClyde 1. Coughenour Attorney-James E. Nilles ABSTRACT: A marking device, such as a hand stamp, dater, coder or other printing device, and having a marking band of self-storing fluid material for marking articles with ink or other fluids. The band is formed as a sleeve of microporous synthetic resin and this resin band is bonded to an inner flexible and woven reinforcing material. The composite sleeve so formed is insertable over a supporting cylinder which fully supports the entire sleeve of said relatively fragile resin. A holder is provided for such a sleeve of microporous resin material, and the resin material and its supporting cylinders are shiftable in the holder between (1) an inoperative, protected position within the holder and (2) an operative position where it can contact the article to be marked.

PATENTED min 7 law SHEET 2 UF 2 Jm mzars Q? Q. Welleshn 7 77/025 Haze ai (w'rwy MARKING DEVICE REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation of the copending U.S. application, Ser. No. 764,540, filed Oct. 2, 1968 now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention pertains generally to printing and more particularly to a printing member or inker of the microporous synthetic resin type which is formed as a sleeve and fully supported by a cylinder. The invention also pertains to a holder for such a printing sleeve member which is shiftable within the holder between printing and nonprinting positions.

The material of which the printing sleeve itself is made is of the type shown in the U.S. Pat. to Leeds, No. 3,055,297, issued Sept. 25, I962. This material is capable of storing the marking fluid within its porous structure.

An example of the general type of holder for a device made in accordance with the present invention is shown in the U.S. Pat. to Harris et al., No. 3,158,094, issued Nov. 24, 1964, wherein the flat piece of ink-retaining material is reciprocable within a holder.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to marking or stamping devices of the type utilizing microporous resins as the medium for storing the marking fluid and forming the indicia that transfers the fluid to the article to be marked. More specifically the invention relates to a sleeve formed of such microporous material and a cylinder for properly and completely supporting such a sleeve which is of a relatively fragile nature.

Another aspect of the invention relates to a holder for such a sleeve of fragile material, and its cylinder, which holder includes a housing that has a lower portion that normally shields the marking material when it is not in use; when the holder is to be used, this lower portion of the housing is placed on the article to be marked and the relatively fragile marking material is then caused to be shifted relative to the housing and into contact with the article to be marked, this all being done by a simple pressing movement of the holder. After the article is marked the fragile marking material is automatically withdrawn into the housing by simply lifting the holder from the marked article.

The invention furthermore provides a novel means for simply inserting the marking cylinders into the housing and holding them in assembled relationship.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear as this disclosure progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a side elevational view of a hand stamp dater embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 22 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 44 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective, exploded view of the microporous resin supporting cylinders and the shaft on which they are mounted; FIG. 6 is a perspective view of one of the sleeves formed of the microporous resin; and

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 but showing a modified form of sleeve.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Housing The marking device made in accordance with the present invention comprises a housing H having a pair of generally vertically disposed and parallel sidewalls 1 and 2, a top wall 3 and an open bottom 4 which is normally facing in a downward direction when the marking device is in use. It will be understood that the marking device is capable of marking when in any position, but the terms top, bottom and side are used herein for convenience in describing the invention. The sidewalls each have a downwardly facing slot 1a and 2a respectively, which terminate in an upper semicircular portion lb and 2b respectively. The top wall 3 has an opening 10 (FIG. 4) therein, in which the printing cylinder support (to be described) can reciprocate, as will appear later.

Inner Frame A reciprocal, inner frame 11 is mounted within the housing H and has an upwardly extending neck 12 extending through the opening 10 of the top wall 3. The inner frame 11 also has a pair of sidewalls l3 and 14 which define a downwardly extending opening 13a and 14a respectively. These openings are defined at their upper ends in their semicircular portion 13b and 14b, respectively. The inner frame 11 furthermore has a central wall 15 which defines a downwardly facing opening 16 (FIG. 4) which terminates at its upper end in a semicircular surface 16a. The downwardly facing opening 16 has a pair of oppositely disposed projections 16b which form a restriction of the opening 16, that is, they form a reduced width of the opening 16 adjacent the lower end thereof, for purposes that will appear.

A generally hollow handle 17 is mounted on the upper tubular neck portion 3a of the housing, and generally is connected to the neck 12 of the inner frame 11 for vertical shifting of the frame 11 relative to the main housing H. A spring 18 is inserted between the upper end of neck portion 3a and an internal shoulder 20 in the handle 17. In this manner the spring acts to bias the handle and the inner frame member 11 to an upwardly, retracted position.

Support Cylinders The invention has been shown as applied to a dater marking device which can indicate the day, the month and the year as well as other data. In other words, it has a series of support cylinders 22, 23, 24 and 25 within the housing. However, other numbers of cylinders, or only one, may be employed with the present invention, and these cylinders may be made of different types of material.

For purposes of describing one form of the invention, cylinder 23 has an elongated hub 23a on which the cylinder 22 is mounted by its internal surface 22a. Cylinder 22 has an outwardly extending hub 2212 which extends beyond the sidewall 1. Similarly, the elongated hub 23a ofcylinder 23 extends laterally beyond the housing and also laterally beyond the hub 22b. In this manner, the cylinders may be rotated, and thereby adjusted to various settings, within the housing simply by rotating their respective hubs from outside the housing. Cylinders 24 and 25 are similarly constructed and mounted and can likewise be adjusted or rotated from the outside of the housing by their respective extending hubs 24a and 25a. Hubs 22b and 25a bear against the semicircular portions 13b and 14b of the sidewalls 13 and 14 of the inner frame, thus providing a bearing surface for the rotatable cylinders.

A central shaft 30 is located within and also supports the cylinders 22, 23, 24 and 25. Thus the cylinders 22, 23, 24 and 25 together with the shaft 30 form a printing unit U which can be snapped into the inner frame 11 or easily removed therefrom as follows. The shaft 30 is of such a diameter that it can be pushed upwardly into the housing and past the projections 16b of the downwardly facing opening 16 in the inner frame. The arrangement is such that the shaft 30 actually snaps into the opening 16 and is releasably held therein by the oppositely disposed projections 16b. The retaining force of the projections 16b is such that the entire printing unit U can be readily removed from the inner frame 11 simply by pulling it from the opening 16. When the printing unit is located within the inner frame 11, its hubs 22b, 25a and the shaft 30 are rotatably journaled, respectively, in the semicircular portions 13b, 14b and 16a.

Printing Members-Sleeves The printing members 42, 43, 44 and 45 are formed of a microporous synthetic resin material which may be of the type shown and described in the said US. Pat. No. 3,055,297. This material may comprise interconnected aggregates of united particles of a thermoplastic synthetic resin and constitute a substantially uniform, unitary cohesive reticular structure. This material is capable of retaining the printing fluid disposed therein and releasing the same under pressure applied to the resin. If a more detailed explanation of the material is deemed either necessary or desirable, reference may be had to said Pat. No. 3,055,297. It is believed sufficient to say for purposes of this disclosure however, that this material is of a rather fragile nature and is of a substance, strength or consistency that it cannot support itself to any appreciable extent. As a result, its use heretofore has been restricted to printing members of substantially planar form, such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,919,645 of Jan. 5, 1960, No. 2,966,116 of Dec. 27, 1960, or said US. Pat. No. 3,158,094 of Nov. 24, 1964. The material has been heretofore incapable of use in a dater device in which the printing member was formed as an endless band and trained over spaced apart rollers or the like.

These printing members 42, 43, 44 and 45 which are formed of relatively fragile material are formed as a sleeve as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, and these sleeves are adapted to be slipped over the ends of their respective cylinders where they engage the periphery of their engaged cylinders snugly and without looseness. In this manner, the cylinders fully support their respective printing member sleeves and provide the necessary rigidity and support around the entire sleeve. Thus the sleeves are slid on from the end of their respective cylinders for firm engagement around the circumference of their cylinders. These sleeves have printing characters formed on their periphery, which characters, of course, may be of any desired nature.

A modification of the sleeve is shown in FIG. 7 which utilizes an internal sleeve 50 of reinforcing material such as woven or webbed material, and the synthetic resin material adheres to and is in effect bonded to this reinforcing sleeve. The reinforcing sleeve 50 provides additional rigidity or support to the microporous synthetic resin and this is particularly desirable when the printing member sleeve is not assembled on its supporting cylinder.

In operation 17 the handle may be depressed which also shifts the support member 11 and its assembled printed unit, relative to the outer housing H, and against the bias of the spring 18. Thus the support cylinders and their printing members are shiftably mounted by the handle relative to the housing, between a retracted position fully within the housing to a printing position in which the printing members can contact an article to be marked located adjacent the open bottom 4 of the housing H.

It will be noted that the outwardly extending hubs of the support cylinders have indicia on them which are aligned with and correspond to the indicia on their respective sleeves. With this construction it is unnecessary for the user to turn the device over in order to ascertain the marking to be used.

If desired, an additional printing member 60 of planar form may be mounted on the reciprocal support 11 for printing a fixed character or legend.

RESUME The present invention provides a sleeve-type printing member of microporous synthetic resin material which is generally of a fragile nature, and these sleeves have an internal sleeve of reinforcing material, and are fully supported around their entire length by their respective support cylinders. The support cylinders, along with their respective printing member sleeves, may be readily mounted in and withdrawn from the marking device as a unit. The cylinders may be selectively and individually rotated to the desired position, such adjustment being easily made from the outside of the housing, and thus various combinations of printing characters may be readily presented to the article to be marked.

We claims:

1. A marking device comprising a housing having a pair of sidewalls, a top wall, and an open bottom, an inner frame shiftably mounted in said housing, a plurality of support cylinders within said inner frame, a printing member of thermoplastic and microporous synthetic resin material capable of storing and retaining printing fluid therein and releasing the same under pressure applied to the resin material, said member being formed as a flexible sleeve and mounted firmly around the entire circumference of each of said cylinders for complete support thereby, said sleeves each having an internal sleeve of flexible woven reinforcing material to which said sleeve of resin material adheres and is reinforced thereby, said sleeve of resin material also having printing characters formed on their periphery, a shaft extending through at least one of said cylinders for rotatable support thereof, another cylinder being rotatably mounted on said one of said cylinders to thereby form an assembly of individually rotatable cylinders, said assembly being rotatably mounted in said inner frame, a wall in said inner frame, said wall defining an open sided slot which has an open side facing toward the open bottom of said housing and which said slot defines projection means which releasably hold said assembly in said inner frame, said open side adapted to receive said assembly when the latter is inserted through said open bottom, whereby said assembly is releasably held in said slot in said frame and within said housing, handle means connected with said inner frame and extending from said top wall, and means for shiftably mounting said handle and inner frame relative to said housing, whereby said sleeves supported on said cylinders can shift between a retracted position completely within said housing to a printing position on contact with an article to be marked.

2. A device as defined in claim 1 further characterized in that said cylinders each have an elongated hub extending from one of said sidewalls for rotatable adjustment of said cylinders. 

1. A marking device comprising a housing having a pair of sidewalls, a top wall, and an open bottom, an inner frame shiftably mounted in said housing, a plurality of support cylinders within said inner frame, a printing member of thermoplastic and microporous synthetic resin material capable of storing and retaining printing fluid therein and releasing the same under pressure applied to the resin material, said member being formed as a flexible sleeve and mounted firmly around the entire circumference of each of said cylinders for complete support thereby, said sleeves each having an internal sleeve of flexible woven reinforcing material to which said sleeve of resin material adheres and is reinforced thereby, said sleeve of resin material also having printing characters formed on their periphery, a shaft extending through at least one of said cylinders for rotatable support thereof, another cylinder being rotatably mounted on said one of said cylinders to thereby form an assembly of individually rotatable cylinders, said assembly being rotatably mounted in said inner frame, a wall in said inner frame, said wall defining an open sided slot which has an open side facing toward the open bottom of said housing and which slot defines projection means which releasably hold said assembly in said inner frame, said open side adapted to receive said assembly when the latter is inserted through said open bottom, whereby said assembly is releasably held in said slot in said frame and within said housing, handle means connected with said inner frame and extending from said top wall, and means for shiftably mounting said handle and inner frame relative to said housing, whereby said sleeves supported on said cylinders can shift between a retracted position completely within said housing to a printing position on contact with an article to be marked.
 2. A device as defined in claim 1 further characterized in that said cylinders each have an elongated hub extending from one of said sidewalls for rotatable adjustment of said cylinders. 